Approximately 300 students are eligible to participate in Coastal Carolina University's summer graduation ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 8, at 8:30 a.m. at the HTC Center. Pam Martin, Ph.D., professor of politics and international relations, will deliver the address.

The title of Martin's address is "The Value of your Degree beyond Graduation."

Martin joined CCU's Department of Politics and Geography in 1999. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, College Park and taught at La Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador. Her research and writing focus on global environmental politics, energy, sustainable development, and international relations and policy.

Martin has written and edited numerous books and articles in her field, including "Ending the Fossil Fuel Era, Oil in the Soil: The Politics of Paying to Preserve the Amazon" and "Introduction to World Politics: Conflict and Consensus on a Small Planet," written in collaboration with retired CCU professor Richard Oliver Collin.

She has worked closely on international collaborations with Ecuador and has written extensively about oil extraction in the Amazon and on the Galapagos Islands. She has directed CCU's Model U.N. team for 12 years. She was the 2015 recipient of the HTC Distinguished Teacher-Scholar Award.

Currently, she is beginning a new sustainable development program at CCU in which students produce digital case studies of local sustainability issues and challenges. Martin enjoys working directly with students and engaging them in real world activities. Combining her scholarly work with her classroom teaching has been her passion at CCU for the past 15 years.

Doors open at 7:30 a.m., and the commencement will be streamed live at CCU's website at coastal.edu.